It’s not the same, but I’ve been having fun with spoonflower.com. Thousands of independent designers with hundreds of prints each, available to be printed on any of their 20ish fabric types . You can order a box of fabric samples to see what each type feels like and how the ink looks on each one.
But chatting with the crafty ladies in line, getting all nosey with my shopping basket is irreplaceable 😭
Honestly, my local Joann’s staff remembered me and always asked about my last project and how the recipient liked it. “Did your dad like his new tie?” “Did your uncle like the model boat?” legit some of the nicest people.
There’s a legit fabric store near me, like where designers get fabric, and it’s way more expensive, but the quality is better and the variety is unmatched, but I really don’t need all that. There’s also a sewing/quilting specialty store near me that’s independently owned and operated. Far less variety of fabrics, but more variety of patterns. Depending on what you went to Joann’s for, it’s possible there’s an alternative near you, though honestly I still preferred Joann’s to the two above alternatives. Just letting you know that sometimes there are other local options where the staff is equally helpful.
Not sure where I live. I heard local news people complaining “now there is no place to get yarn anymore”.
I do know of a place like you described but that’s 3 hrs drive + 2 trains. Sigh. Not worth the effort for my hack job. Guess it’s online disaster here we go.
Ugh. Sorry to hear that. I’m lucky enough to live near several big cities so I have a lot of options.
For what it’s worth, I’ve ordered fabric from spoonflower and it’s been great so far. I also get a lot of scrap/unique fabrics from small Etsy sellers, and 99 times out of 100 it’s perfect. Every once in a while the fabric has clearly been in a smokers house for a long time or terribly taken care of, but generally people do a great job of picking fabrics that go together and they package them nicely. Full disclosure my spoonflower purchases are all through their Etsy store because I don’t wanna make a whole new account for their site, but I imagine it’s the same experience regardless.
It’s not the same, but I’ve been having fun with spoonflower.com. Thousands of independent designers with hundreds of prints each, available to be printed on any of their 20ish fabric types . You can order a box of fabric samples to see what each type feels like and how the ink looks on each one.
But chatting with the crafty ladies in line, getting all nosey with my shopping basket is irreplaceable 😭
Thanks mate. I’ll miss the staff. They were always good to me.
Honestly, my local Joann’s staff remembered me and always asked about my last project and how the recipient liked it. “Did your dad like his new tie?” “Did your uncle like the model boat?” legit some of the nicest people.
There’s a legit fabric store near me, like where designers get fabric, and it’s way more expensive, but the quality is better and the variety is unmatched, but I really don’t need all that. There’s also a sewing/quilting specialty store near me that’s independently owned and operated. Far less variety of fabrics, but more variety of patterns. Depending on what you went to Joann’s for, it’s possible there’s an alternative near you, though honestly I still preferred Joann’s to the two above alternatives. Just letting you know that sometimes there are other local options where the staff is equally helpful.
Not sure where I live. I heard local news people complaining “now there is no place to get yarn anymore”.
I do know of a place like you described but that’s 3 hrs drive + 2 trains. Sigh. Not worth the effort for my hack job. Guess it’s online disaster here we go.
Ugh. Sorry to hear that. I’m lucky enough to live near several big cities so I have a lot of options.
For what it’s worth, I’ve ordered fabric from spoonflower and it’s been great so far. I also get a lot of scrap/unique fabrics from small Etsy sellers, and 99 times out of 100 it’s perfect. Every once in a while the fabric has clearly been in a smokers house for a long time or terribly taken care of, but generally people do a great job of picking fabrics that go together and they package them nicely. Full disclosure my spoonflower purchases are all through their Etsy store because I don’t wanna make a whole new account for their site, but I imagine it’s the same experience regardless.
Oh good to know never even heard of it as an option.